Also excellent were the stoic Lucas Black (“Cold Mountain”), whose angst prevents him from playing at the peak of his abilities; Garrett Hedlund (“Troy”), as the boy who still loves his father, despite incredible abuse; and a stand-out first performance by country music crooner Tim McGraw, as the detestable father who can’t figure out how to escape from the past.

The best thing about “Friday Night Lights” is neither the story, the direction nor the acting, as great as all these are.  It’s the film’s message, which portrays in no uncertain terms both the seduction and the fleeting nature of football fame.  At the end of the movie, Coach Gaines pulls the names of the boys off the roster, letting them drop into a bin one by one, replacing them with another set of names.  The slow-motion gesture captures how desperately short-lived – and how empty – it all is, without something greater to pin our hopes and dreams to.

Perhaps McGraw’s character tells it best, in a moment of poignant honesty.  “It’s all you’ll ever have outta life,” he says, referring to the state championship they covet so much.  “You got one year – one stinking year – to make yourself some memories.  And after that, it’s gone.”  So much so that this former champion can do nothing but wallow in the past, drinking himself into oblivion every night as he beats out his frustration on an innocent child.

There are brief Christian elements to the film, like an echo of “God bless us” and two teams who pray the Lord’s Prayer simultaneously.  But the most Christian part of this film isn’t anything overt.  It’s the message about the loneliness, the pain and the ultimate futility of worshipping anything but Jesus Christ.  A wonderful film for adults and mature teens accompanied by parents.

OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT

• Drugs/Alcohol Content:  Wild drinking at teen party, including teens using funnel to get drunk; adults toast to success in several scenes; character drinks repeatedly to drunkenness, which leads him to abuse son.
• Language/Profanity:  About two dozen obscenities and half a dozen profanities.
• Sexual Content/Nudity:  Boys talk about “getting laid;” several teenage couples kiss passionately at party; inference that one couple has had sex, with teens dressing afterwards (including close-up of girl’s underwear); teenagers begin to undress but are interrupted before having sex; upper male nudity and upper female nudity seen from behind.  
• Violence:  Harsh football violence in several scenes that lead to injuries, including bloody faces and one severe knee injury (sound of bone cracking); brutal physical abuse of son by father in multiple scenes.